The effect comes from the Peanuts animated television specials, where adults are rarely seen and never speak in clear words. Producers used a muted trombone to voice Charlie Brown's teacher and other grown-ups, turning adult speech into the blurred noise children actually hear. As clips from the specials circulated online, the wah wah sound separated from the cartoons and became a standalone meme cue for lectures, nagging and information overload. It remains popular because listeners recognise the teacher gag in the first second.